Jesus’s Mission to Earth, Top Secret

David W Palmer

(Matthew 16:20 NKJV) Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Jesus’s Father in heaven had revealed to Peter that Jesus is “The Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mat. 16:16 NKJV). This was huge; but then Jesus “commanded” his disciples not to tell anyone that he was “Jesus the Christ.”

In truth, Jesus referred to himself only as the son of man. And if demons tried to disclose his true identity, he shut them down—not allowing them to say it:

(Luke 4:41 NKJV) And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

When Peter declared by revelation from God that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus’s response was very positive: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Mat. 16:17 NKJV). So why wouldn’t he allow either his disciples or the demons to talk about it?

His identity as the Son of God was also the topic of the devil’s attacks on him:

(Matthew 4:3, 6 NKJV) Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ... {6} and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.”

The enemy’s final attack and seeming victory over him was also about his true identity as the Christ, God’s anointed Son. This was the reason the High Priest and his council finally gave Jesus the death penalty:

(Mark 14:61–64 NKJV) But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” {62} Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” {63} Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? {64} You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.

Jesus’s true identity as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” was pivotal, yet we read that he “commanded” his disciples that they should tell this to no one. He didn’t even disclose this to them himself prior to Peter receiving it as revelation from heaven, so, “Why?”

What is of upmost importance for us to keep in mind is that Jesus operated on earth as a man. He is God; he is God’s only begotten Son, but he didn’t operate here as God; he operated on earth as a man. I believe the reasoning behind this could have gone thus:

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had suffered a rebellion in heaven through Lucifer; consequently, he was evicted. God created the physical universe and put man in it. Adam and Eve were created spiritual beings, which were put on earth in a physical body. God gave them dominion over the planet; the earth is man’s domain:

(Psalm 115:16 NKJV) The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.

All was perfect in the Garden of Eden until Satan duped Adam and Eve into distrusting God. After that, the earth was still man’s domain, but man was under the control of Satan—they were doing and saying what they heard and saw with him in the spirit instead of with God. So, by default, Satan became the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4, John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).

God was then—by his own decree—locked out of earth’s domain. To operate here legitimately, he would have to do it through one of “the children of men” to whom he had “given” the earth. He found a suitable candidate for this in Abraham; God gained a degree of access back into earth through a covenant he made with him. It was a very good deal for man; if Abraham and his descendants walked before God and were “blameless,” they could enjoy the numerous, generous, and supernatural benefits of having God as a covenant partner:

(Genesis 17:1–2 NKJV) … the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. {2} And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

Abraham and his descendants walked in obedience to the covenant to a limited degree of blamelessness. When they did, they enjoyed amazing supernatural divine interventions. However, more often than not, they “limited” God’s access to earth—thus hindering him from helping in the way and to the extent that he wanted:

(Psalm 78:41 KJV) … they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

Eventually, by the time we reach New Testament times, God’s people had made a religion out of the terms of the covenant. Instead of enjoying God’s blessing, healing, and protection, they were merely playing with the wrapping of God’s amazing gift; they were wearing special costumes, demanding adherence to man-made rules, and playing at being the religion police.

God decided that his Son, the second person of the godhead, should come to earth to show God’s people how to walk in the fullness of the covenant. But he would have to do this as a man—not God, as this is the only way he could operate legitimately on this planet. To become one of the “children of men,” he would have to be born here in the normal way. Hence, Jesus, God’s only begotten son, was born of a woman:

(Galatians 4:4–5 NKJV) But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, {5} to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Jesus lived perfectly under the terms of the original covenant: “Walk before Me and be blameless.” The heart of the original covenant was faith; this is how Abraham obtained his right standing with God:

(Romans 4:3 NKJV) For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (See also: Gen. 15:6, Gal. 3:6, James 2:23.)

Our Lord lived in perfect faith, and thus did not limit God’s side of the covenant. God moved in mighty miraculous power through Jesus, helping people everywhere he went. Jesus is God, but he operated here as a man. The objective was to:

Operate here legitimately in man’s domain

Use what was already available to God’s covenant partners to rescue, save, heal, deliver, protect, and bless God’s people and others

Use God’s word as his only weapon and cleanse the area of Satan’s overshadowing influence (Mat. 4:13–16)

Show humans how to used the covenant to walk in freedom and wholeness

Set up a new covenant—one in which men could be established in a permanent state of righteousness through faith in, and adherence to, the Lord Jesus.

Jesus confirmed that he didn’t operate here with an advantage over what is available to us in him. In other words, he wasn’t like an athlete on steroids, or an alien. Listen to how the Holy Spirit explains this:

(Philippians 2:6–9 NLT) Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. {7} Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, {8} he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. {9} Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names.

This may be heavy with theology, but the upshot for us is in something Jesus said would be the outcome of his amazing achievements:

(John 14:12 NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

Jesus said that in Him, if we believe in him, “The works that I do he will do also.”

Today, I encourage you to give thanks and be grateful for all that Jesus went through to bring us into a place of right standing and cleansed conscience. Then, simply step out in what Jesus set up for us: “greater works.” You have no need to feel inferior or condemned; you do not need to look at Jesus’s miracles as something that could only be done by God in person. Instead, look at Jesus more like a parent who got down among his children to show them how to use their birthday gifts.

Step out today; do the greater works. In Jesus’s name, and by faith in all that he achieved:

“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8 NKJV)